Statement made on 06 December 2011 by Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette
Hon. Céline Hervieux-Payette:
Honourable senators, my question is for the Leader of the Government in the Senate.
An article that appeared in Le Devoir on November 28 indicates that Nadia Pollaert, the Director General of the International Bureau for Children's Rights, considers that Bill C-10 violates the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child that Canada ratified in 1991.
The convention is very clear about the obligations that states have with regard to children in conflict with the law. Article 37(b) reads:
The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time
Ms. Pollaert specified that the main reason for the special treatment given to minors is that they have not fully matured psychologically and many so-called young offenders have had difficult lives and suffered a great deal as a result of dysfunctional family environments.
Does the Conservative government think that international law is only about free trade and the WTO, and that it can ignore the rights of young Canadians?
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